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Saturday, August 18, 2012

Zakka Along Week 20 :: Little Pocket Pillowcase

If this isn't a little Zakka bear, I don't know what is.

Wonky ears, questionable embroidery, and oh, a lesson learned.

It all started with this week's project by elsie marley, aptly shared by Lee of Freshly Pieced. The diamond patchwork was a tad finicky, but fun, and I used quite a variety of purple and blue scraps. (I loved when daughter dear commented that she loved the palette - as if I'd be making this for any other toddler but her own. At 21 months, apparently she already has favorite colors!)

Anyway, so far so good. For the body of the pillowcase, I used BasicGrey Grunge in tan. My favorite part of the construction was the French seam, which I hadn't done since textile classes in college. It was like revisiting an old friend.

In place of the piping, I decided on a flange, trimming my folded length of patchwork to 5/8" from the fold. I was anxious to try the flange, and it seemed a tad easier, though complicated because I now didn't have accurate finishing instructions due to my change of method. So at this point, that seam has a raw edge, which I may go back and enclose. Or zigzag.

So back to little bear. He's stitched from aqua Kona Crush, which I haven't used much, but adore every time I do! (placemats, Zakka mug rug, Zakka water bottle holder) With a cute little patchwork belly button-stitched on, I had high hopes for him. That was before I sewed his pitiful little ears, and before I realized the toddler pillow I'd bought was too big for the case, and before I had the bright idea to unpick the sewing on the pillow to remove some of the stuffing and use it to stuff the bear. {Had I not read *feather* pillow??} Ok, chalk it up to my feather inexperience. They were everywhere! And it didn't help that the house fan was on due to the scorching heat! Thank goodness hubby came to the rescue with the vacuum.

But all turned out well {enough} in the end. Bear has a Zakka style all his own, and seems quite comfy in his little pocket.

I think you could adapt this tutorial to tak care of your finished seams predicament. This finishes all the seams, which I love.http://patches.typepad.com/notes_from_the_patch/2010/07/tutorial-tuesday-24-pillowcases.html

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